Welcome to my website. My field of interests are importance of Early Childhood music education, developmental stages, theories, issues relating to early development, research directions, gaps in the literature, brain studies, and current scientific findings on effects of music on general intelligences.

About Dr. Catherine M. Tu
Dr. Catherine M. Tu teaches elementary music methods classes and supervises undergraduate research at Texas A & M University-Kingsville (TAMUK). Her research has centered on singing accuracy measures, infant and toddler music behaviors, and children’s interactivity with the iPad. She is deeply concerned with equal opportunity for all early childhood music students. After receiving her doctoral degree from University of Miami in Florida, Dr. Tu taught general music methods for five years at Millikin University in Illinois before joining TAMUK. Her publications have appeared in Perspectives: Journal of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association, Research Perspectives in Music Education,the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and Musicology in China. Dr. Tu is a member of National Associate for Music Education (NAfME), Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML), American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA), and Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA). She is certified by AOSA (level I and II), Musikgarten Family Music, Cycle of Seasons, Orff-Schulwerk, and GIML early childhood, elementary, and instrumental music. In 2008, Dr. Tu was awarded the distinguished Presser Music Award.

Selected Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

Tu, C. (2015, under review). Book chapter: A two-year study on young human’s interactivity with an iPad App: The Carnival of the Animals (COA). Music Learning across the Lifespan, book series entitled Routledge Research in Music, Routledge and the Taylor & Francis Group.

Tu, C. ((2015, in press). Lessons in a Book by Invitation: Jump Right In: Early Childhood Curriculum, Music Play II. Chicago: G. I. A. Publications.

Tu, C. (2015). Research poster, Interactivity with an iPad App: A Cross-sectional Examination. National Association for Music Education, Eastern Division, April 10, 2015.

Tu, C., Cslovjecsek, M., Pérez, J., Blakey, J. & Shappard, E. (2014). Assessing the Interactivity of 3-year-old Children with an iPad App: The Carnival of the Animals. Perspectives, Journal of the early childhood music and movement association. 9 (3), 15-18.

Tu, M. (2009). Music Aptitude, Tonal Accuracy Achievement, and Singing Voice Development of Kindergarten and First-Grade Children. Research Perspectives in Music Education, 13(1), 29-37.

Tu, M. (2006, co-author). Vocal Evidence of Toddler Music Syntax Acquisition: A Case Study. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, No. 170, 33-45.

The unfolding of the young child through the first few years of life is a beautiful and mystical occurrence. (Joyce Jordan, 1996)

I am so proud to see music teachers, preschool/daycare workers, dance teachers, gymnastic instructors, and therapists gaining the awareness that early music exposure is crucial in children’s daily routine. I strive to maintain an updated webpage to help the teachers understand current research findings and learn to communicate with parents, principals, colleagues, community members, and professionals from other disciplines. This webpage is my service to the professional community.